Building construction



July 27, 1948. FosT E 2,445,823

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed March 16, 1945 INVEN'TOR Thom as J 1 0.52%?

ATTO EYS Patented July 27, 1948 UNITD smrrs BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Thomas J. Foster, Ridgewood, N. 1., assignor to Larry Foster Foundation, Montclair, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 16, 1945, Serial No. 583,082

This invention relates to building constructions. More particularly it pertains to constructions which are at least in part of a prefabricated nature and wherein foundation girders are provided on piers or footings which extend below the frost line.

It has been customary in the past to fasten a building or other permanent structure to a foundation set in the earth. Holes-are dug in the ground and then forms and templates are positioned in the holes and finally concrete is poured into the forms and around the templates. Thereafter horizontal girders or beams are positioned upon the poured foundations and are secured thereto with the aid of the templates. Ordinarily,

in spite of what precautions may be taken, it is necessary to drill the girders at the building site and otherwise labor over the foundations in order to align them with the rigidly fastened templates and secure them to the earth.

I have discovered a procedure whereby the poured footings and piersmay be secured to previously squared and leveled foundation girders, so that the girders may first be located in their correct positions without regard to piers or footings. Thereafter poured concrete supports extending below the frost line are attached to the aligned foundation girders. Accordingly it is an object of my invention to provide a method of operation whereby the foundations for a building may be squared and leveled and secured to the earth in a arrangements of parts and methods of operations as will b eXemplified in the structures and sequences and series of steps to be hereinafter indicated and the scope of the application of which will be set forth in the accompanying claims.

Figure l is a plan view of the foundationsof a simple structure embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a part of a precast concrete foundation girder;

Figure 3 is a perspective View of a combination '1 base plate and tie plate used in practicing the invention;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line & of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an assembly construction illustrating the invention.

In Figure 1 a series of girders 20 are shown laid 4 Claims. (01. 12-77) 1 i 2 i I v I out in rectangular configuration and connected one to another by means'of base plates 22. Each girder 20 (see Figure 2) is provided at its ends with girder studs 24 which are precast in the reinforced concrete of'thegirders. Figure 3 illustrates in greater detail the type of c onstruction of a ,base plate 22 wherein a pair of tie "plates 26, each provided with atie slot 21, are shown welded to the upper surface of plate 22 and with anchor bolt 28 extending downwardly through base plate 22 to secure the plate in a concrete footing. In Figure 4 a base plate 22 is illustratedbolted to a girder 2!] by means of a nut 29 ongirder stud 24. Anchor bolt 28 extends downwardly and a concrete footing 30 has been pouredun-der base plate 22. In Figure 5 a construction similar to that shown in Figure 4 appears but with the addition of a column 32 provided with slots l34-which has been slid downwardly over girder-stud 24 and is held in place upon :base plate 22 by nut 29. y I use these and other similar constructions in carrying out the operationsof myinvention. l

If a building is to be erectedont-aqrelativel fiat lot, I begin by digging holes atv the locations where vertical building columns are to :be; erected and I connect these holes with shallow trenches of sufficient. width and proper depthto. receive hori- P30111791 foundation girders laid. out according to the floor plan of the building. Illustratively,I use a precast,reinforced concrete foundation girder such as girder 20 which I manufacture at a central location and bring to the site of construction. by truck. I locate the foundation girdersin the prepared trenches with the aid of a small tractor derrick and havingset themout in accordance with the floor plan of the building, I connect their adjacent ends, as by slotted steel tie plates of constructions along the lines illustrated in Figure 3. These tie plates cooperate with the girder studs to form a relatively flexible connection between the ends of adjacent girders, in the sense thatthey hold in proper abutment the ends of the girders but permit limited angular movement of one girder with respect to another. It is then a simple matter withthe aid of a tractor derrick to level the girders and temporarily wedge and otherwise secure them in place in their trenches, and to square the various corners and align the intermediate connections. Having done this I pour concrete into the holes at the various points where columns are to be erected and ordinarily under each girder connection in such fashion that the base plates 22 and anchor bolts 28 are imbedded in the upper portions of the soft concrete. After the concrete is hard I back off the nuts from the girder studs and slip slotted columns downwardly over the studs, as illustrated in Figure 5, and then solidly bolt the columns in vertical position.

It is to be observed that the base plates and tie plates do not necessarily have to be integrally constituted and that separate base plates may be added after appropriate tie plates have beenused to connect adjacent foundation girders. With this construction it is a simple matter to lay out the foundation girders rapidly and to align them and thereafter to pour as deep and as large and as many concrete piers and footings as theparticular building site and type of constructionmay require. Thus the building site becomes a place of assembly only and the various components which are used there may previously be prepared at one central location where heavy machinery is available, efficient methods of operation may be maintained, and temporary weather conditions can haveno adverse effects or cause building delays. And having prepared "the various components, they can'fbe rapidly assembled at the site of the building with assurance that an absolutely true foundation'will result and with a minimum loss of laborandmaterials in the field.

Fromthe foregoing it will be observed that a method of -building construction embodying my invention is well adapted to attain the ends and objects hereiribefore setforth, and to be economically executed, since all parts of the procedure 'are thoroughly practicable over a wide variation of modifications as maybe desirable in adapting theinvention'to difierent applications. The inventio'n'provides, ata minimum of labor, an exact foundation which allows the steel structure to be erected withouttrouble.

many embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes may be made inthe embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth'or showninthea'ccompanying drawings 'isto be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Lfln the 'a'rt -of erecting buildings of the type having Jconcrete footings, that improvement whichi-nclu'des the steps of digging holes where columns are to be erected, digging trenches between theholes'forreceiving foundation girders,

girders at their connected ends, and erecting the "having concrete footings, that ing and leveling the girders, providing a column base plate wherever a column is to be erected,

pouring concrete footings into the holes to sup- .port the girder connections and column base plates, and erecting the structure of a building upon sai'd'girders and plates as a foundation.

3. 'In. the art of erecting buildings of the type improvement which includes the steps of digging holes where columnsare to be erected, digging trenches between the holes for receiving foundation girders, laying girders in thetrenches, flexibly connecting theg'ir'ders where they abut one another by means "of column base plates having girder tie plates secured thereto, squaring and leveling the girders, pouring concrete'footings into the holes to sup- ;port the girder connections and base plates, and erecting the structure of a building upon said girders and plates as a foundation.

4. In the art of erecting buildings at a building site, that improvement which includes the steps of prefabricating foundation girders provided with connection portions for flexible connection to one another and for support of vertical columns, digging holes at the building site where columns are to be erected, digging trenches between the holes for receiving foundation girders, lay-irrg girdershorizontally in the trenches, flexibly connecting the girders to one another, squaring and leveling the flexibly connected girders, pouring concrete footings into the column holes tosupport the squared and leveled girders permanently, and erecting the structure of a building'uponthe girders as a foundation.

THOMAS J. FOSTER.

REFERENCES CITED L The following references are of record in the file of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,764,001 Blanchard June 17, 1930 2,129,211 Hickl Sept. 6, 1938 2,150,176 Levy Mar. 14, 1939 

